| Re: Why PHP? [message #180664 is a reply to message #180660] |
Fri, 08 March 2013 13:45   |
Jerry Stuckle
Messages: 2598
Registered: September 2010
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On 3/8/2013 2:14 AM, clayjar(at)gmail(dot)com wrote:
> I'm a developer at a small but fast growing team at a university medical group. We've had a separate team working on an EMR system for many years on a Windows platform (using C# language), and it's still a big mess mostly due to early but poor architectural decisions. I've been working on a (non-patient data) administrative data system for over 3 years on a LAMP platform. The system I've developed, including the framework designed around the needs of our team, is very stable, easily extensible, user-friendly, and multisite capable.
>
> We're at a point where the EMR system has to be refactored completely inside out for it to be sustainable and viable for mobile access and for other needs. We need to get buy-ins from the .NET/C#/Visual Studio/Windows team as well as from our boss. A particular individual on the C# team likes the word "enterprise" a lot and still believes PHP to be a mere toy that kids play around with to build Personal Home Pages. Apparently, he hasn't been keeping himself up-to-date on web development scene.
>
> I need to present a strong case for choosing the LAMP platform, and PHP in particular. I have a very strong, intuitive notion about why LAMP is more suited for web applications than Windows-based alternatives, and experience to back it up, however, I lack professional knowledge about the difference between the two. What page or what information would you recommend to convince somewhat that LAMP platform is better suited for web apps? (Or PHP vs. C#). I have searched enough and pursued this information online, however, it is difficult to ascertain the objectivity due to salient biases and other factors.
>
> I've been using PHP to build many websites for over a decade, and I try to avoid any type of argument for or against a language, because it really depends on how one uses the tools to get something done, although the quality of tool being used does matter to certain degree. The point of this exercise really comes down to trying to convince others to use the framework I've built over the years which is now capable enough to accommodate for more complex systems. The language I happened to use is PHP and the platform is LAMP. If I had started on JSP using Java I wouldn't be doing this, as my friend in our Windows-platform team believes Java to be "enterprise-ready" but not PHP. I'm sincerely asking the PHP community here to point me to some objective materials to help convince my (very pro-Microsoft) coworker and our boss that LAMP stack is a VERY viable alternative to other proprietary platforms.
>
> Thank you for your help.
>
I'm not sure PHP is a good answer for your situation. It sounds like
your group is not very familiar with PHP, and would have to learn a new
language. That in itself is time consuming and contains a fair amount
of risk.
OTOH, you have (evidently more senior) people who are strongly favoring
the MS solution, and are strongly in favor of it. Even of their design
decisions in the past have not been the greatest, they do have a design
which will probably require significant modification to work with a
different language. It isn't even your group doing the refactoring.
This is more of a political decision than a technical one, especially in
the university environment. There are many things to consider, and to
provide an unbiased opinion on the best way to go would take an unbiased
person time to look at the project and discuss with the people involved
before making a decision. It's not a situation you can describe
accurately in a few paragraphs, especially since you seem to be as
biased for PHP as the "enterprise" guy is against it.
Please don't get me wrong - I'm not a big MS fan, either. However, when
looking at platforms, I try to put my biases aside and make the best
decision for the project.
--
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Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex(at)attglobal(dot)net
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